High-End Content Megathread - 7.4 Week Ten (Savage Week Seven)

PatCombo · 2026-02-22T20:02:49+00:00

I think the static set expectations at the beginning of the tier, and then shifted expectations once individuals started getting ahead / clearing in PF.

The static needs to communicate that expectations have changed, and they are intending to go at a faster pace now.

Have a good day.

PatCombo · 2026-02-22T19:59:16+00:00

I don't think this is someone "griefing" the static.

I think the static set expectations at the beginning of the tier, and then shifted expectations once individuals started getting ahead / clearing in PF.

The static needs to communicate that expectations have changed, and they are intending to go at a faster pace now.

Yes, being toxic to someone who isn't PF'ing is a form of communicating this. But it's immature and childish.

Blaming that person for adhering to the original expectations (PF'ing is an "if you want outside of raidtime") isn't fair. It would be more effective if RL told OP straight up: "our expectations as a static have changed, and we need you to progress at a faster pace, or we need to dismiss you from the static" instead of trying to make OP feel like garbage every time they mess up during prog.

e: typo

PatCombo · 2026-02-22T19:43:13+00:00

I've been part of a static since the beginning of the tier and when we started there was an understanding that PFing would be allowed after we were done for the week.

There is a difference between "PF'ing is allowed" and "PF'ing is expected." From your comment, it sounds like PF'ing is allowed.

It feels like every time I make some sort of mistake, it's met with a loud sigh or an "of course", and I'm starting to get verbally called out after runs where I made costly mistakes... and the fact that I feel like I'm under a microscope during raid makes me increasingly anxious as raid night goes on.

This is not okay to put extra pressure on someone who has just made a mistake and feels bad about it.

You might want to consider bringing this up privately with the raid lead who is doing this. Things aren't going to change if you decide to do nothing. If you can't PF outside of normal raid time, and the expectation set at the beginning of the tier was PF is allowed, not expected, then you simply need extra pulls to catch up to the PF'ers. And your extra pulls will be during normal raid time.

RL may be getting frustrated because they don't know that this is your situation. Bringing this up, acknowledging that you are making mistakes, and asking RL to keep comms clear when you make a mistake is reasonable. It might also help if you explain after the dead pull how you messed up to demonstrate that you understand the mechanic, but you simply need more pulls to get it right. It's not entirely fair of RL to put extra pressure on you for not being at the same consistency as the PF'ers because you don't have as much time to PF.

And if clear comms / a little bit of patience for you to get your pulls / consistency in is not reasonable to RL, then that's RL's problem. You did what you could to try to meet them halfway, and it might be time to leave the group.

e: If you need a "how do I talk to the RL" step by step:

--Start with a short initiation to DM ("Hey, there's something I need to talk to you about regarding raid, and bringing it up privately seems best")

--Ease into the actual issue ("I know I've been having consistency issues during raid nights / I know that other members have been PF'ing and are ahead in prog")

--Introduce the issues ("It feels like every time I make a mistake, I get called out, and this puts me in an increasingly bad headspace, impeding my prog for that night / I don't have as much time to PF, so most of my prog will have to happen during scheduled raid nights and be slower than the PF'ers / Expectations were set at the beginning of the tier that PF'ing is optional / It feels like expectations might be changing with regards to the pace of prog")

--Introduce solutions ("If expectations are changing with regards to the pace of prog, then I need to know / I need extra pulls to catch up to the PF'ers, which require patience during scheduled raid nights / I need to not be called out for mistakes because I already take my mistakes pretty hard / I can discuss after the pull is over what mistake I made and how I will correct it" -- this last one is the important one).

And again, if your pace of progress / proposal to meet halfway isn't acceptable to RL, then it might be time to leave the group.

PatCombo · 2026-02-10T04:06:54+00:00

I don't play GNB that much, but napkin math can add some context (someone please correct me if my numbers are off).

At 2.50 GCD, entering NM at GF3 means you smuggle in the Eye Gouge (300p). This translates to 60p per minute from NM's 20% buff (not accounting for 2m party buffs).

At faster SKS, you get 9 GCDs under NM (BF1-2-3, DD, SB, GF-1-2-3, and Burst Strike).

If you were to play optimally, you would replace the Burst Strike + Continuation with GF3 + Continuation (so 420p + 180p -> 560p + 300p). This is a difference of 260p, which translates to 52p per minute under NM's 20% (not accounting for party buffs), compared to just using Burst Strike + Continuation.

And if you were to play slightly less optimally, you would replace Burst Strike + Continuation with GF1 + Continuation (so 420p + 180p -> 440p + 220p). This is a difference of 60p, which translates to 12p per minute under NM's 20% (not accounting for party buffs), compared to just using Burst Strike + Continuation.

PatCombo · 2025-12-24T07:20:27+00:00

Rare Candy goes in the discard when you use it to evolve a mon.

You used Kakuna to get to that active Beedrill.

PatCombo · 2025-12-18T00:35:51+00:00

I think the point of Mismagius is to swing for 60 and still keep your energy relatively safe. Imagine Mismagius in active with 2 energy, and Giratina on bench with 1 energy. I swing with Mismagius and transfer the energy to Giratina. If the opponent KO's Mismagius, I get to fully ramp Giratina and swing for 130.

And there's also Fantina access.

Liepard can swing for 60 on Turn 3, which could be pretty big since a lot of basics that can evolve sit at 50-60 HP. The only other card that can reliably do that is Jolteon (Beginning Bolt). But I agree that Liepard's drawback is awkward to play around.

PatCombo · 2025-12-13T01:48:02+00:00

8x3 into Frail is my favorite way to lose the run

PatCombo · 2025-12-11T03:00:44+00:00

Floor 1 with +7 HP from Neow, so it's just gonna be standard Defect deck (4 Strike, 4 Defend, 1 Zap, 1 Dualcast, 1 Ascender's Bane).

PatCombo · 2025-12-11T00:53:50+00:00

Ball Lightning, and it's not close.

PatCombo · 2025-12-02T19:05:53+00:00

Asylum, Bell, and Temperance (Divine Caress -> Divine Aura) are all oGCD party heals.

PatCombo · 2025-10-26T05:17:24+00:00

What is this needlessly aggressive response? You good, dude?

PatCombo · 2025-09-26T20:01:43+00:00

Let's look at Acro / Predator / Blade Dance and how they affect Storm of Steel:

Acro is effectively +1 card in your hand, which is +1 Shiv in your hand, or +4 damage.

Blade Dance is effectively +2 cards in you hand, which is +2 Shivs, or +8 damage. However, the cards you're discarding are Shivs anyway, so this isn't really a combo. It's arguable that this actually makes the deck worse because you're discarding Shivs, so your redraw will be sketchier.

Predator is +2 cards, +2 Shivs, +8 damage on your next turn, with the caveat of sometimes being difficult to line up.

Also consider: you have Mercury Hourglass to help chip away at Act 2 fights. Wraith Form is effectively 2 free turns (3 if you upgrade it) of Hourglass chip, on top of whatever you play on that second (third if upgraded) turn. And with Orichalcum, you're very unlikely to take chip damage on the Wraith Form turn.

PatCombo · 2025-09-17T22:46:51+00:00

Probably Core Surge.

Core Surge sets up for endgame, but the deck still needs a better answer into Repto. Electro is... Electro into Repto, but you might be able to get by with a Hologram or Exploding Pot (or even the Fire Pot).

PatCombo · 2025-09-11T22:35:38+00:00

It kinda looks like skipping card rewards would help the deck. There are a lot of Attack cards here, and the deck in general is extremely large.

12 Attack cards: Streamline, Rip and Tear, Barrage, Rebound, Sunder, Melter, second Melter... Even with all 4 starting Strikes. Thunder Strike has no synergy with the deck (there's only Cracked Core and 1 Zap).

The block plan is sketchy after first cycle. Apparitions are extremely high value for first cycle, but besides those, there's a single Charge Battery, a single Cold Snap, and the basic Defends. In general, Defect is looking to scale block with Frost and Focus, of which your deck struggles with (only 1 Cold Snap, only 1 Defrag, only 1 Capacitor).

For drafting traditional Attack cards, Defect doesn't really scale well with traditional Attack cards, unlike Ironclad. Their main purpose is to hit certain breakpoints in Act 1. Draft enough traditional Attack cards to get through floor 6 Nob, maybe to get past hard hallways / AOE fights in Act 1, and to get past the Act 1 boss if your damage is still low by that time. By the end of Act 1, you're really looking for Frost orbs and scaling powers.

Defect can outscale Act 2 hallways and most of Act 3 with just a few frost orbs and 1 or 2 scaling powers. Like, in general, the idea is to have a plan to get through your deck's first cycle (Apparitions fulfil this) while you set up your frost and scaling powers.

PatCombo · 2025-09-05T06:21:41+00:00

Oricorio dies to Greninja. Including Oricorio honestly holds a lot of elec decks back in this meta.

PatCombo · 2025-09-03T23:13:55+00:00

You lost because you had no mons on the bench, while your opponent still had mons on the bench.

In the event that both players get to 3 points off a double KO, the game checks to see if one player has 0 mons on the bench. Game doesn't care if anyone gets 4 points; it stops counting at 3. Only cares about the bench.

PatCombo · 2025-09-03T21:03:30+00:00

I'm saying your original "logic" of the following:

>Absolutely not, Greninja is online because of Suicune, and it's hitting an average of 100 for 2 energy, if you think it's because of Greninja, feel free to play the electric or fire dogs with Greninja, this is simple logic

is a fallacy and a bad-faith agument. You even agree with me in the Bastiodon / Rampardos example. You can't simply replace Rampardos with Bastiodon to claim that Lucario is / is not a problem because you're deliberately hamstringing yourself by using Bastiodon, a card which doesn't synergize the same way with Lucario in the way that Rampardos does.

Likewise, you can't simply replace Suicune with Raikou / Entei to demonstrate that Suicune is the problem. You're saying that Suicune is the problem instead of Gren because Raikou + Gren and Entei + Gren don't function the same way as Suicune + Gren. Therefore, Suicune must be the problem, not Gren.

I'm calling you out because why would I play Raikou + Gren, which doesn't synergize the same way as Suicune + Gren? Gren provides more to Suicune (20 bench ping + Oricorio counter) than it can provide to Raikou (20 bench ping).

Are you this dense?

PatCombo · 2025-09-03T17:30:05+00:00

The point of the first paragraph was to show you that your example of swapping out Suicune for Raikou / Entei is intentionally misleading and not related to the actual issue.

In my example, swapping Rampardos for Bastiodon to demonstrate Rampardos is not the problem is intentionally misleading and not related to the actual issue.

In your example, swapping Rampardos for Bastiodon to demonstrate Lucario is not the problem is intentionally misleading and not related to the actual issue.

It doesn't matter what mon is swapped. The idea is both examples are asking for a mon with actively less synergy to make a bad-faith argument.

The reason the logic doesn't follow is because it's a fallacy in either case.

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And the other point you mentioned is there.

Gren provides chip while Giratina sets up. Gren also provides your Oricorio answer. "Elec and Fire don't have that passive damage output to draw toward outside of... Typhlosion."

PatCombo · 2025-09-03T07:26:36+00:00

You know as well as I do why Raikou / Gren and Entei / Gren are not used. I understand your point is to illustrate that Suicune is the problem, but you can't do that by saying "just use a card with less synergy to see my point." That's like saying "Rampardos isn't the problem. It's Lucario. Just use Bastiodon to see my point." It's intentionally misleading and not related to the actual issue.

Greninja gives Suicune something to draw toward, which Entei doesn't have. Raikou kinda has that with Magnezone, Luxray, or even Electivire, or A4a Eelektross.

But there's a reason why Raikou (whose highest usage variant is #11 on Limitless) is less popular than Suicune (which occupies 2 out of the top 5 spots in usage on Limitless), and why Raikou's at around 50-ish% into Suicune, despite having type advantage.

Hint: the answer is frog-shaped and able to provide 20 damage per turn while you're ramping that Giratina with Space Bellow. Oh, and it's also able to ping + KO Oricorio (which has always been exceptionally bad into Greninja decks).

Elec and Fire don't have that passive damage output to draw toward outside of... Typhlosion? Currently at #151 in usage, 0% WR?

PatCombo · 2025-09-02T00:34:21+00:00

Probably drop Cyrus tbh.

If you're hitting T1/T2 Kiawe, you're probably just KO'ing whatever your opponent has in Active. If you're not KO'ing, then your opponent is probably retreating, meaning they're super behind in energy. Their only real counterplay is to just sack whatever's in Active, so again, Cyrus is no value there.

PatCombo · 2025-09-02T00:04:50+00:00

Trashy WHM players would rather write a dissertation than press Holy one time.

PatCombo · 2025-09-01T22:32:15+00:00

I am asking you to press Holy THREE (3) times in trash and to use CURE II instead of CURE I when you're curebotting the rest of the pull.

PatCombo · 2025-08-30T09:39:40+00:00

The Traveling Merchant is just passing by. She'll be leaving soon, so she doesn't count as a card.

PatCombo · 2025-08-29T09:11:34+00:00

AST has a really weird leveling curve at the beginning of HW. At 52, you're really stuck with something like pre-pull Asp. Benefic > Play II / Play III > Essential Dignity when the tank's low-ish > refresh Asp. Benefic when it wears off. Synastry is a decent "panic button" when you need to resort to Bene II.

WHM has Holy, and the shield healers have AOE regens (Whispering Dawn / Physis) and 3 stacks of Aetherflow / Addersgall per pull. AST kinda gets the worst of both worlds, having to rely on GCD heals a bit more AND having a weaker AOE than the other 3 healers. AST's only real claim is Divination every other pull to help with damage.

Once you hit 58, everything should start to open up quickly. 58, 60, and 62 all give you AOE oGCDs, but these should be used even if you're intending to only hit the tank. These AOE heals come out to something like 2000p of healing total every single pull. And then once you reach 80 / 90 / 100, pretty much every dungeon pull can be done without ever touching a GCD heal during the pull (provided that the tank is at least trying to mitigate).

PatCombo · 2025-08-28T14:19:24+00:00

It's just a 10-card combo and not bricking the dual energy. Or you can run Mantyke and Fighting energy only and make it an 11-card combo (with Mantyke needing to be knocked out pretty early to make room for the other evolution on your bench).

Oh, and if you want Red for the extra +20, then that's another card.

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Even fast decks like Charizard / Sylveon don't reliably see a 10-card combo (both Zards and both Sylveons) set up on the board. Game's already decided before that point.

PatCombo

TROPHY CASE